As published in The Erin Advocate
The Town will proceed with a bylaw to rename 15 Sideroad as Dundas Street East, out to Winston Churchill Boulevard, with no objections raised by residents at a public meeting on November 26.
The change will make the name consistent starting at Main Street. The route was called Dundas Street within the former Village of Erin, but 15 Sideroad in the former Township of Erin. Those names were retained at amalgamation and the urban boundary was later adjusted, but the change-over point in the road name was not clearly marked.
Residents will keep their current address numbers, and the name change will take effect early next year. Urban residents normally have one to three digit numbers, while four-digit numbers usually indicate to the Fire Department that it is a rural address without fire hydrants.
The issue arose after a 15 Sideroad family had delays in getting ambulance service because of confusion over their location in the 911 database.
“When I call 911, I want a quick response,” said Janet Collis. “That’s the only issue – I don’t care about the name or the number.”
Former Township Reeve Duncan Armstrong also attended the meeting, and spoke in favour of the name change. About 25 notices of the meeting were sent out to area residents.
There was also inconsistency in the name of the road west of Main Street, including a section with no homes retaining the name 15 Sideroad. That entire road out to the Eighth Line will now be called Dundas Street West.
